1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a rearview mirror assembly with a quick angle adjusting function to change a tilt angle of a rearview mirror quickly and radically to make the vicinity of a rear wheel part visible, for example, in case of putting a vehicle into a garage. More specifically, the present invention relates to a technique for easy, accurate and radical adjustment of the tilt angle of the rearview mirror.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Rearview mirror assemblies for the vehicle, such as door mirrors and fender mirrors, are typically equipped with an angle adjusting mechanism so as to adjust a tilt angle of the mirror by means of remote control operation. For this purpose, pivots are mounted on vertical and transversal axes, respectively, on the backside of the mirror in a movable manner. Thereby, pivots make advancing/retracting action according to rotation of a motor for adjusting the mirror angle, so that the mirror can be tilted in all directions up/down and right/left.
For example, when backing a vehicle into a garage, it is desirable to reflect the vicinity of a rear wheel part in the rearview mirror. However, in order to obtain this position of the rearview mirror, an adjusting button of the angle adjusting mechanism must be depressed continuously, thereby a mirror angle is tilted at a large degree. In addition an operation to return the mirror angle to its normal position is required after the vehicle is in place in the garage.
In order to eliminate such a bothering operation, a quick angle adjusting mechanism has been in practice for rearview mirror assemblies. In the quick angle adjusting mechanism, the fact that a motor for the quick angle adjustment is provided in a mirror frame separately from one for the mirror angle adjustment means that the mirror angle is tilted quickly and thus can be adjusted so as to reflect the vicinity of the rear wheel part of the vehicle in response to the activation of an operational switch for the quick angle adjustment. In other words, turning ON this switch before putting the vehicle into the garage, the inclination of the mirror is adjusted quickly to reflect the vicinity of the rear wheel part of the vehicle, which enables the if driver to move his or her vehicle into the garage easily and safely while the inclination of the mirror can be returned to its normal position by turning OFF the switch after the vehicle is in place in the garage.
Meanwhile, with the quick angle adjusting switch that is a simple mechanical ON/OFF switch, the inclination of the mirror is changed whenever the switch is turned on. For example, accidental activation of the quick angle adjusting switch comes to move the mirror to reflect the vicinity of the rear wheel part even if a drive gear is selected (or a reverse gear is not selected). Consequently, the driver cannot get proper rearview visibility, deteriorating the safety of driving.
It has been proposed a method to change the inclination of the mirror in association with a reverse gear of a vehicle in view of avoiding such a trouble. That is, in the method, an operational switch for quick angle adjustment is turned ON automatically in response to switching of a shift lever of a vehicle to the reverse gear, which causes the change of the mirror inclination so as to obtain a view of the vicinity of a rear wheel part. In this method, however, the inclination of the mirror changes whenever the shift lever is engaged with the reverse gear even when the driver doesn't want to do so.
Furthermore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, it is known that an operational switch for quick angle adjustment has been provided in which the operational switch is being cooperated with the reverse gear so that the inclination of the mirror is quickly tilted to reflect the vicinity of the rear wheel part only when the shift lever is engaged with the reverse gear and the operational switch for the quick angle adjustment is turned ON. Even with this technique, the same problem arises as mentioned above due to the fact that the inclination of the mirror changes in association with the operation of the shift lever in case the operational switch for quick angle adjustment is left ON.
That is to say, the quick angle adjusting mechanism can be activated when the driver selects the reverse gear and turns ON the operational switch for quick angle adjustment, the driver, however, may fail to turn OFF the operational switch for quick angle adjustment after returning the mirror to its normal position. Even under such circumstances, displacement of the shift lever from the reverse gear to another position can return the mirror to its normal position. However, because the operational switch for quick angle adjustment is kept in the ON state, once the reverse gear is selected, the quick angle adjusting mechanism operates in response to that so that the inclination of the mirror comes to change. Thus, the quick angle adjusting mechanism operates against the drive's intention, which annoys him or her.
As described above, conventional remote control devices for quick angle adjustment of a vehicle rearview mirror may provide automatic operation of the quick angle adjusting mechanism in association with the reverse gear. Alternatively, the devices may activate the quick angle adjusting mechanism when the reverse gear is selected and the operational switch for quick angle adjustment is turned ON. In any case, the inclination of the mirror maybe changed against the driver's intention, which annoys him or her.
An object of the present invention is to provide a remote control device for quick angle adjustment of a vehicle rearview mirror in which the device is easy to operate and is capable of ensuring accurate operation of a quick angle adjusting mechanism only when required.